Klackons
, | worker = | worker_output = | rebel = | pop_growth = '-10 people' per turn. | standard_units = | racial_units = | restrictions = Available: Available on Shore: Not Available: }} The Klackon race is one of the 14 different humanoid Races found in the world of Master of Magic. Klackons originate from the plane of Arcanus. Klackons first appeared in Master of Orion, and seemed to find their way into the MicroProse fantasy canon on account of their appeal as an intractable and abhorrent alien hive society. The Klackons reprise these qualities in Master of Magic, and remain industrial heavyweights with utter disinterest the other inhabitants of their world. Taking the Klackons as the Fortress race tends to offer a strange and fast-paced game, while encountering them among foreign powers tends to cause a lot of groaning. Klackons are expansionists— their Workers have augmented , and their units have augmented and . In the name of dynamic optimization, exploring the map quickly will give you clues on how to balance your towns' build orders between infrastructure, domestic units like Settlers and Engineers, garrisons, and the expeditionary army. Klackons themselves are rather ponderous but can easily bankroll moderate spellcasting, so the use of Magic Spirits and other magical means of exploration may be called-for; then, you will know precisely where to deploy your Klackons when they are ready. Description Physical Features Klackons are upright insect-like creatures with segmented bodies, four appendages which serve as arms and legs, and an exoskelton carapace. An individual's coloration and markings vary with its task. The chitinous black plating on their working and fighting drones is far sturdier than flesh and grants Klackon troops a natural , and may contribute to their higher productivity as well. Klackons are partly-sentient automatons with low initiative. The race has a unified consciousness instead, a telepathic network far greater than the sum of its parts to which the individuals report all of their sensory input. This "gestalt mind" performs all the high-order, lightning-fast processing associated with true brains, and endows its race with the full outward appearance of intelligence. This intelligence is exclusively in the service of Klackons, however. It takes a full-fledged Wizard to commune with it from the outside. Klackons have no friends among the other races. Society While Klackons can work to the point of near-fatal exhaustion, they have to lean on their unified consciousness to give their individual tasks any semblance of purpose or direction. Klackon society is the large-scale colonial plan and methods conceived on high by this entity, with the individuals acting more like its hands and feet than like an educated, voting public. That "near-fatal exhaustion" is the sweet spot sought by an opportunistic Wizard when he hijacks the Klackons. These creatures don't really object to hard labor for unknown, abstract purposes, and can be saddled with an unusually-high Tax Rate, or the amount of wealth amassed in common purpose... as long as the Fortress city is Klackon. The Wizard just needs to be aware that all mortal creatures have their limits. Too oppressive a regime will send them into survival mode, where they disconnect from the hive and wander about aimlessly. A Klackon town is simply a rearrangement of the soil, with hollowed-out caverns and surface mud-domiciles. Klackons keep their breeders and larvae in the centermost secure location, and inhabit a protective circle surrounding it. From this protected core, the Klackons aim to expand geometrically. Settlers proceed outward like tendrils to cover every last patch of ground they can find, and troops keep pace with them to defend the new holdings to the death. Occasionally the hivemind will order a Shrine to give itself a focal point (it is not a house of worship), or a Library to collect and interpret the lore of other races for later use, but the gains to the Wizard from such efforts are but a trickle. Properly-directed Klackon Workers may be the most diligent creatures on Arcanus, but their efforts are confined to expansionary projects: military units, Settlers & Engineers, and if nothing else, Trade Goods. Army Klackon regulars have a and a twice that of the baseline for each kind of unit. Their citizens' high production and tax revenues mitigate the extra cost; Klackons are, on the whole, a mixed military and economic race aptly suited to expand through settlements, defend their holdings, and eventually launch vigorous assaults on points of interest like Lairs and Nodes. Their army is designed for the delight of the methodical and not-too-greedy expansionist. With an Armorers' Guild and Stables, the Klackon Army has successfully instituted a breeding program which turns the Stag Beetle, a common crop pest, into a huge fire-breathing monster. Due to the cost of this program, the wizard is usually better-off getting numerous Settlers, Engineers, and lower-tier fighting units out onto the field before starting on it. Army List Below is a comparative list of all Klackon normal units. This list shows all units at their first , with no additional modifiers or magical effects. Force Composition Klackons will likely weigh the wizard's army in favor of Normal infantry, owing to the relative ease with which Klackons can build and maintain these versus the relative paucity of available for sustaining Fantastic Units. Basic Spears and Swords make strong garrisons that can help sustain a high tax rate. While possessing no ranged attackers themselves, the race can counter enemy missiles simply by shrugging them off (Klackon Swordsmen in particular are extremely resistant to ranged attacks). Only when Stag Beetles are present can Klackons make voluntary attacks on units without help from their wizard. Computer rivals have a tendency to field huge numbers of Klackon Halberdiers. While these are solid units, especially with magic catering to , consider how many settlers and engineers you should build— they aren't cheap— and how close you are to gaining access to Stag Beetles before emulating this behavior. Klackon Settlers Klackon Settlers are twice as expensive to create as the baseline Settlers and have slightly higher upkeep. Like all settler units, they have woeful combat abilities and are intended solely for creating outposts. Klackon Settlements :Any wizard with a Klackon Fortress is likely to build Klackon Settlers religiously. Seek out special resources and rich inland terrain to get the strongest sites working as early as possible, and then backfill all the remaining available land. This race's economic strategy relies on rapid, peaceful expansion. Build new cities early and often, and link them with Roads. Klackons are uniquely reliant on racial purity for their empire to run efficiently. Their optimal rate of taxation has an unrest differential of 40% from races they subjugate (+20% from tensions, against -20% among the Klackons themselves), making them strictly worse, even, than Dark Elves for holding their tax rate steady over other races. :Consequently, a wizard without a Klackon Fortress is likely never to build a Klackon Settler. In truth, it may even be appropriate for the player to raze Klackon towns if there is some pressing need for their land. With their inability to construct anything higher than a Shrine, it is difficult to get anything worthwhile from subjugated Klackons without the Stream of Life. :If there are rival Klackon Fortresses, a Klackon player may wish to ease back production of his own settlers, letting the rivals build them instead while he takes on the more rewarding task of developing the military assets required to capture the towns. The non-klackon player might want to destroy these rival wizards quickly, though, simply to prevent a worldwide bug infestation. Klackon Engineers Klackon Engineers may be created from a Klackon town, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain a Builders' Hall for this to be possible. The primary purpose of Klackon Engineers is to build Roads across your empire. On the other hand, Klackon Engineers make very poor combat units, with only a token Melee Attack and almost no Defense. Like all Engineers they may however assist during siege combat, by using their Wall Crusher ability to bring down enemy City Walls. Klackon Engineers require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. In short, like all other Klackon units, their main distinction is that they are overpriced - but the Klackon race has other strategic benefits to offset this. Klackon Spearmen Klackon Spearmen receive a racial bonus, which makes them very durable against weak attacks. Thus, they can go up against enemy low-tier Normal Units with little fear, and will generally survive longer in battle. They also have , which makes them a little bit harder to harm with enemy spells and Special Attacks. On the downside, Klackon Spearmen cost twice as much to produce than the "baseline" Spearmen, which is still about as much as the common Swordsmen unit - and thus not too expensive. Fortunately, Klackons also have higher rates than other races, not enough to completely make up for the increased costs but enough to ensure that Klackon Spearmen are still abundant. Klackon Swordsmen Klackon Swordsmen receive a racial bonus, which makes them very durable against weak attacks. Furthermore, whenever the Large Shield ability kicks in, Klackon Swordsmen are very hard to damage. Thus, they can go up against enemy low-tier Normal Units with little fear, and will generally survive longer in battle. They also have , which makes them a little bit harder to harm with enemy spells and Special Attacks. On the downside, Klackon Swordsmen cost twice as much to produce than the "baseline" Swordsmen, which is still about as much as the common Halberdiers unit - and thus not too expensive. Fortunately, Klackons also have higher rates than other races, not enough to completely make up for the increased costs but enough to ensure that Klackon Swordsmen are still abundant. Klackon Halberdiers Klackon Halberdiers receive a racial bonus, which makes them very durable against weak attacks. Thus, they can go up against enemy low-tier Normal Units with little fear, and will generally survive longer in battle. They also have , which makes them a little bit harder to harm with enemy spells and Special Attacks. On the downside, Klackon Halberdiers cost twice as much to produce than the "baseline" Halberdiers, and have a slightly higher Upkeep Cost. Fortunately, Klackons have higher rates than other races, though not enough to completely make up for the increased costs. Stag Beetle The Stag Beetle is unique to the Klackon Race, and can only be built in Klackon towns, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain both an Armorers' Guild and Stables for this to be possible. The Stag Beetle is a ferocious Melee Attacker, capable of chomping through armor with ease, and thus having a good chance of inflicting at least some damage to any target. Even before charging into Melee, the Stag Beetle also unleashes a powerful Fire Breath attack that can kill a few enemy figures before the fight even begins. Stag Beetles are also very well-armored, and can take a lot of damage before being destroyed. Coupled with their fast movement speed, these traits make the Stag Beetle a fearsome opponent on the battlefield. A Stag Beetle requires an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Trireme The Trireme is a Ship which can transport up to 2 units across bodies of water, and can travel at a fairly good rate. Early in the game, Triremes can help empires expand rapidly across short continental gaps or large inland seas. This is very important for Klackon empires, particularly when looking for suitable races to conquer before the mid-game phase occurs. Triremes are not very effective in combat. If one is lost, any units it was transporting at the time will sink with it, so it is important to avoid combat. Try not to rely on these for long trans-oceanic journeys. Citizens All Klackon Towns contain Klackon citizens. These have more output of most other citizens, at per Worker which gives Klackon towns 50% more output per turn than most other towns, they will produce and per Farmer as with most races. Klackon citizens look like this: : Klackon Farmer. : Klackon Worker. : Klackon Rebel. Technology Klackon individuals cannot process complicated ideas or act with moral clarity. Their racial technology is limited to utilitarian projects; specifically, to make more Klackons in a cascading geometric growth pattern that seems to exist for its own sake. Klackons are skilled in the basics of masonry, woodwork, and metallurgy; moreover, they are capable of meeting extraordinary physical demands and hazards in these lines of work. Druidic lore is one of the many branches of knowledge that remain foreign to Klackons. So, in spite of the dogged Klackon Workers, the Farmers will begin to lag behind more advanced races' Animists' Guilds in the mid-to-late stage of the game. Their ability to quell rebels is also minimal, so they will be relying on their inherent intra-racial docility for this. What economic buildings the Klackons can produce, however, should serve as a means towards simple expansion, military buildup, and perhaps ultimately Trade Goods. A Klackon Fortress is a fantastic source of and taxed , a center for aggressive expansion, and an academic dead end. The fully-developed settlement produces a grand total of and, minerals aside, . Use them well! The following table compares the total potential output of Klackon citizens to how they begin initially, taking into account the full extent of the race's Town Building development branches, and assuming a Tax Rate of . The Building Chart The chart below shows all Town Buildings that can be constructed in Klackon towns, as well as the buildings that cannot be constructed. It also shows the requirements to construct each building. Interracial Relations Klackons have a punitive 20% tension rate with other races. Meanwhile, they have a unique -20% intra-racial tension rate as long as Klackons inhabit the Fortress city. This means that the optimal Tax Rate in a Klackon empire has to deal with a whopping 40% unrest differential between Klackon and non-Klackon cities. For example, if the Klackons levy a tax of (45% unrest), their cities will only have 25% unrest and cities of any other race suffer 65% unrest. Overall this race encourages racial purity. A Klackon purist can expect excellent production levels and tax revenues from his cities. His will have to come from Nodes. Wizard using some other race may as well hit an enemy Klackon city with spells like Call the Void and Pestilence, and then raze the place, because these creatures are not very useful unless they hold the Fortress. Complementary Magic Life Throwing Just Cause early on will help counter the Klackons' near-total absence of unrest-quelling buildings. Stream of Life is nice to have, but not critical: it is a late-stage option for when Klackon cities are huge and your Casting Skill is high. It also extends your ability to control other races, for whatever parts they may still have to play at this point. But if your fortress city is not Klackon, getting anything useful done in a Klackon city without Stream of Life is a nightmare! With its full line of unit and town-enhancing spells, complements any race and its military, including Klackons. Nature The primary contribution of to a Klackon empire would be to augment or even possibly replace its armies with powerful Fantastic Units. Gaia's Blessing will benefit the Klackons by improving their population growth and improving their food production to support larger towns. Gaia's Blessing may be the only way a Klackon town will be able to Purify corrupted tiles. Nature's Cures, Herb Mastery, and Regeneration (Spell) will be very useful due to the lack of Shamans or Priests that speed recovery. Move Fortress could be an alternative to combating Unrest if that gets out of hand in a longer game, by moving to a more compatible race. Finally, the offers the use of Earth Lore and Sprites for exploration and "peeking" into Lairs, hastens troops' progress overland, and snares enemies in combat— all of which can be used to great effect with the slow-going Klackons. Sorcery The offers Klackons some tools in their early-game blitz. Confusion and Phantom Warriors are handy in rising to the more difficult challenges at Nodes and Lairs which, more so than other races' cities, contain spoils of interest to a Wizard leading Klackons. The tools continue to get better with Enchant Road, better combat spells, other mobility-enhancing Unit Enchantments, and high-end summons after the Stag Beetle has had his day. Chaos The performs best if it can draw from the imperial economy, and then throw its weight into hard, high-stakes battles. The economy happens to be a strong suit for Klackons. Consider taking Alchemy, Chaos Mastery, Channeler, or to maximize your potential attack strength. Chaos-Channeled Stag Beetles either gain Demon Skin or Demon Wings. Their own, stronger, is never overwritten. Both results can seriously expand the capabilities of this unit. If you want serious entertainment and are somehow able to clean up the mess, nuke rival wizards' races with Call the Void, minimizing the loss of fame should you decide to raze their sites and move Klackons in. overland and combat attacks are both affordable and useful to this race. These assets are similarly useful when fighting against the Klackons. Without smart or the ability to Purify, Klackon wizards will only be able to watch these spells wreck their empire. Death Like , is useful both in the service of Klackons and in stamping them out. The race can finance extensive black spellcasting. The ability to generate masses of undead garrison troops, either through the Create Undead ability of Ghouls, or the Life-Stealing Attacks of the higher-end summons, mellows unrest levels generated when Klackons either conquer another race or are, themselves, conquered by a Wizard. The realm's overland attacks encourage racial genocide, purifying the map in either direction. Category:Races Category:Arcanian Races Category:Klackons